title: Immunocytochemical study of S-100 positive glial cells in the brainstem and spinal cord of the rat embryo.
abstract: A light and electronmicroscopic immunocytochemical study of the glial cells in the brainstem and spinal cord of the 18th day rat embryo was performed using an anti-S-100 protein antiserum. Only the radial glia and the free immature glial cells are S-100 immunoreactive. Neurons are devoid of S-100 immunoreactivity. The radial glia form two paramedial plates and a great number of lateral plates, uniformly spaced along the ventral portion of the brainstem from the mesencephalon to the medulla. The S-100 protein was also detected in the perivascular membranes and glial limitans. Embryonic glia adopt a highly organized spatial pattern in the brainstem that could set the structural basis for an organized assembly of the developing nervous tissue. The use of the S-100 protein as a glial marker in the embryonic rat brain proved to be of great value. Antibodies to S-100 protein allow the demonstration of immature glial cells and a highly organized spatial pattern in the brainstem and spinal cord of the rat embryo.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biologia Celúlar, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brusco
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Saavedra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D009418:S100 Proteins